UKPN cable route Leadenhall to Osborn Street. Report on an archaeological watching brief

A watching brief was carried out between 8th and 14th December 2020, near the junction of Aldgate High Street and Duke's Place. This is the area of the London Wall Scheduled Monument (SM LO 26 K, HA 1002048), which is the Roman City Wall. Only modern deposits associated with the numerous services buried under the pavement were found and there was no evidence of the Scheduled Monument. Generally, the deposits found were modern shingle or crushed concrete and in places concrete intrusions were found and had to be broken out using a small tracked excavator. In one area a foundation of yellow bricks c 1.0m wide was found in the base of the trench. This was from a 19th-century building showing the modern pavement is much wider than in the past and has encroached on a building once alongside Aldgate High Street. A nearby concrete surface was probably the floor to this building. There was no evidence of the Roman gate house or wall in the trench, the base being 0.80m below ground level, showing it had been truncated. Apart from the 19thcentury building mentioned above there was no evidence of any archaeological deposits or features.